Tag Archives: doom

ALBUM REVIEW: BIG | BRAVE – Vital

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The role of mythology is to inspire both individual and collective growth through storytelling. Myths do that by making sense of the world. Vital (Southern Lord) by BIG | BRAVE is a mythical-sounding album that does just that. Of the colossal yet intimate Vital, the Doom-Sludge trio from Montreal featuring Robin Wattie, Mathieu Ball, and Tasy Hudson says, “This album involves what it means navigating the outside world in a racialized body and what it does to the psyche as a whole while exploring individual worth within this reality.” Vital tells a story through sound that makes sense of the modern world, prompting growth for those who listen.

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RECAP + PHOTO SET: Crowbar – Live at Southport Hall

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Shows are starting to come back as both the pandemic is lessening vaccination rates are going up, as well as bands and fans have the desperate itch to rock out again. As long as it continues to be safe, we’ll see more socially distanced smaller gigs and even bigger theater shows and festivals start happening. One such return to the stage was Crowbar who performed a pair of shows near their hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana, at the Southport Music Hall. The band played some crushing classics as they get tight for more live demonstrations of their power soon. They were even joined by former band member Sammy Duet of Goatwhore! n their way to releasing new music later this year or early next year via eOne Music. Check out this photo set from Evil Robb Photography who was there in person to document the night!

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REVIEWS ROUND-UP: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Acid Mammoth, and Summata

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King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard – L.W.

As indicated by the title, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard’s seventeenth full-length essentially serves as the second half of 2020’s K.G. and picks up where it left off stylistically. L.W. (Flightless Records) sees the completion of the microtone trilogy that started with 2017’s Flying Microtonal Banana, emphasizing a similar mix of Middle Eastern scales, rhythmic percussion, and loosely flowing song structures. ‘Static Electricity’ and ‘See Me’ do the best job of dialing that vibe with their upbeat pacing while the grandiose chugs and life-affirming chants make the closing ‘K.G.L.W.’ one of the band’s most over the top Doom Metal dives to date.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Eyehategod – A History Of Nomadic Behavior

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Released almost exactly a year to the day from the Coronavirus outbreak being officially declared a global pandemic, Louisiana sludge merchants Eyehategod take the last twelve painful months and turn them into a forty-minute outburst of depressive rage and explosive nihilistic aggression.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Moonspell – Hermitage

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Every album that Moonspell releases explores a different facet of their Gothic Metal style, sometimes responding to the one before it in a constant tug-o-war between darkness and light. Their thirteenth album, Hermitage (Napalm Records), is no exception. In contrast to the grandiose symphonics of 2018’s 1755, the band opts for a scaled-back, atmospheric approach with more Prog influence thrown in than usual. It seems to invoke the band’s early vibe without going full throwback and also reminds me of Tiamat or Opeth in spots.

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REVIEWS ROUNDUP: John The Baptist, Conviction, and Phantom Druid

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John The Baptist – John The Baptist (1/3)

Following in the footsteps of their fellow Finns in Reverend Bizarre, John The Baptist’s self-titled debut pushes Doom Metal to its most excruciating limits. Befitting the incredibly drawn-out track lengths and overall runtime, the tempos crawl at an agonizingly glacial pace with the climactic speedups coming up as long overdue rarities. The production is raw without getting too lo-fi as the guitars and bass sit in near equal prominence while the vocals aim for an unhinged, operatic character. It’s decently made but also seems designed to have next to no appeal beyond the deepest of niches.

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LIVESTREAM REVIEW – Crowbar

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Directed by Mike Holderbeast (Exhorder/High on Fire) what you see (and hear) from “Crowbar from New Orleeeaanns!” third slab of live streamage is what you’d expect to get… Crowbar playing a bunch of songs in an empty bar. Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Demon Head – Viscera

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With the release of their fourth full-length, Demon Head has gone from a particularly rustic Occult Doom band to full-on Goth Rock with a few sparse Doom elements. Glossy guitars and Robert Smith-esque vocals among other elements became prominent with 2019’s Hellfire Ocean Void and Viscera (Metal Blade Records) pushes them to an even further extent. But while this album should feel like the culmination of a well-realized evolution, the results are those of an unfortunately awkward misstep.

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EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Listen to Boozewa’s – “First Contact” EP – Streaming in Full

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Beers, Aliens, and Riffs, oh my! Boozewa, featuring current and former members of Backwoods Payback, will drop their sludge debut EP/demo, First Contact, tomorrow February 5th! The Pennsylvania power trio puts a premier on fun topics and bludgeoning songs. Check out the full EP stream here at Ghost Cult.

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ALBUM REVIEW: The Body – I’ve Seen All I Need To See

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Metal, for all its anti-establishment credentials, can often be quite conservative. Many of the same old tropes have been rolled out again and again for the past four decades or so. Whilst that’s not a major problem for many metal fans, it is arguable that the same recycled ideas just don’t have the same impact that they once did. What once seemed impossibly heavy, deafeningly loud, even shocking or transgressive, can now be played on mainstream radio without anyone raising an eyebrow.

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